Typically, a cam follower used in a high-pressure fuel pump or a valve drive of an internal combustion engine includes a cam roller rotatably supported on a roller pin. The cam roller and the roller pin may be manufactured from carburized heat-resistant steel alloy. The roller pin includes a load bearing surface. Due to close tolerances, the cam roller and the roller pin experience a frictional force between them which may result in wear of the abutting surfaces, and in some cases this may lead to a failure of the roller pin and/or the cam roller. Alternatively, a roller pin manufactured from a friction resisting material such as bronze reduces the frictional forces between the abutting surfaces. However, due to pliability of bronze, the life of the roller pin may be affected at the load bearing surface of the roller pin. Moreover, a roller pin may be manufactured by attaching a layer of bronze over a steel body of the roller pin by known processes such as welding, but prolonged operation of the roller pin results in uneven wear of the roller pin at the load bearing surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,778 discloses a sliding bearing which is multilayered, self-lubricating and maintenance-free. The bearing includes a metallic supporting body; and a layer of sintered bronze which is provided on the metallic supporting body and which has pores filled with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to provide a PTFE-impregnated sintered bronze layer, the PTFE being uniformly distributed and serving as a solid lubricant, and the PTFE-impregnated sintered bronze layer having a sliding surface composed of the PTFE particles but no PTFE cover layer.